Bully, turned best friend, turned lover?! - A Greg Jenko Love Story

The Pains of High School

"You sure you wanna do this?" I asked my brother, Morton Schmidt as we walked down the high school hall together.

"Yeah Em, I need to ask Melodie to prom before it's too late and she finds somebody else," Morton said to me in determination.

"Okay, buddy. I'll be at my locker and listening in. I'm your wingman... woman... whatever. Good luck!" I side hugged him and skipped to my locker.

Opening it, I turned slightly to see Morton's eyes fix on Melodie, 'the hottest girl in school'- please!

He walked up to her with a newfound confidence, stopping in front of her with a "Hey, Melodie."

"Oh, hey!" she replied, smiling.

"Look, I know we've known each other for a really long time, and that we live across the street from each other and stuff. And... well... prom is in four days and I was wondering if-"

"Oh my God... you're not asking me to prom are you?"

"No... I just... you're probably going with someone else..."

"I'm so sorry," she apologised, seeing as how some jocks around the corner (lead douche bag being Greg Jenko) were laughing their asses off at my poor brother.

"I can't really put this nicely," butted in Jenko, "You're a fucking nerd. And she's, well... she's hot, I mean look at her. Look at her."

"Erm, bye" stuttered Morton, dashing off away from Melodie.

"Yeah, good talk buddy," Jenko called after him.

I slammed my locker door, running after my brother, yelling, "Morton!"

"Aww look: his little girlfriend came to the rescue," cooed Jenko.

I stopped in my tracks then and backed up towards the jocks.

"I'm his sister," I hissed, frowning at them.

They looked astounded; "But you're cute!" one of the jocks exclaimed.

Jenko then snapped out of it, "Hey dude, no she isn't! Open your eyes, she's fuck ugly!"

That hit a nerve; I've always been insecure about how I look, and that crossed the line. An unwanted tear leaked down my cheek.

"Aww is the little girl crying?" Jenko cooed sarcastically.

I stiffened; "No," I stated before punching him hard under his chin before sprinting off down the hall.

I burst through the doors outside, and ran past where I vaguely noticed Morton was sat, crying, but my vision was already blurred by my own tears.

I ran over to a large oak tree that stood in the grounds, with a view of the school's entrance and climbed up it, still crying, before settling on one of its branches and letting all my grief out.

Soon I heard the front door of the school slam open and not long after, a dustbin being kicked over hard.

I looked up to find Greg Jenko plonk himself on a bench adjacent to Morton's and even I could see that he was crying... over what I wasn't sure.

Morton looked over at him, and Jenko just scowled before picking up his rucksack and storming off. His path took him under the tree I was sat in, and I couldn't help a sniffle escape.

He looked up at me, and I looked down at him. He was looking straight into my eyes, and he looked so guilty. He opened his mouth as if he would say something, but just let one final tear escape his eye before striding towards his car.

Five minutes later, I felt the tree being shaken by the trunk and I looked down uncertainly to find Morton looking up at me sympathetically.

I gave him a small smile and threw my rucksack down for him to catch so I could climb down with a little help from Morton as I jumped the last foot.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He called me ugly. Fuck ugly," I answered, ready to cry again, before Morton pulled me to him for a brotherly hug.

Suffice to say, Morton and I aren't the most popular in high school so we're each other's best friends really. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we made our way to the bus stop in a comfortable silence.